monica choy : curator

i love art, and especially appreciate it since i don't make any of my own. i love my artists like they were my kids.
my curatorial goal is to bring artist and art appreciator together in hopes of creating a greater art community that is mutually supportive and encouraging; free of weird pretentiousness and egos. (^__^)

4.11.2010

8.03.2009

went to the washougal river yesterday to beat the heat with sam and mike, two former classmates from 12. we also brought along a cardboard cut-out of simone i had laying around since she's at w+k london now.

it's super gorgeous out there and it was only a scenic, 40-minute drive from portland.

sam is leaving for tokyo on wednesday to see his family and then off to who-knows-where. maybe nyc, maybe not. it seems like everyone in 12 is starting to float off on their various journeys and it's interesting to see all the different places this thing is bringing us and also realize how important these people are to me.

the friendships we built during the program are going to follow me for a while, i know it. it's not every day that you can find people that you respect, can have meaningful relationships with, and can work with professionally as well. i wish more of us worked together now.

i feel like i'm coming up to a point in my life now where i really need to take another look at what i value in life and go after those things. there is so much crap in this world, it's very easy to get caught up in the mess of it and confuse what other people think i should do for what i want to do.

i know that i'm young and that i should make as many mistakes as i can now, but i want to make sure that i am making those mistakes doing what i love and chasing what i am after.

7.08.2009

i am a lucky girl. truly. after a few weeks of lingering at w+k, post-graduation (finishing up the w+k=make art show) i scored a freelance gig doing interactive production there. (^_^)

i guess that means i'm a working girl now - which is exciting and will help me to pay back my loans, but i'm going to be looking for something stable as well.

this time after 12 has been very confusing and a bit tumultuous, but i'm glad that i've been able to reconnect with my friends and have been taking some time to take in the beautiful place that portland becomes in the summertime. there has been some truly gorgeous weather and i spent the 4th under the morrison bridge (not all day!) watching the fireworks and watching so much america's best dance crew it was spilling out my ears.

i hope you're all enjoying your summer - it's so nice to not have to carry a jacket around. and corn! and watermelons! and the 5 freckles i may or may not get!

here are some lovely things i've come across lately that i wanted to share:

6.11.2009

what i've done so far: 1. take down an art show2. go to vegas3. see the grand canyon for the first time4. spend time with family5. be still and think about what's important6. get nostalgic and make a ton of 12-related stuff7. work on my book8. move apartments9. re-connect with friends10. enjoy having free time

5.14.2009

two thursdays ago, the biggest art show i've curated so far, W+K=MAKE opened at the portland headquarters of wieden+kennedy. it's w+k's first global art show and i had artwork from all of the seven offices in the show: portland, new york, london, amsterdam, delhi, shanghai, & tokyo from people of all different job titles -- the mail room to creative directors. over 100 artists participated and all the sales proceeds went to room to read, a nonprofit that builds schools and libraries and provides girls' education in developing countries.

500 people came through opening night and our brand new website that we built for the show had thousands of hits the first weekend. (all purchases are made through the website www.wkmake.com)

i've been working on this show for a few months and it was so wonderful to see all the submissions come in from all over the world. we did it to really celebrate the creativity throughout the entire w+k network.

in addition to artwork, i had screenings of film & animation shorts, two live djs (from the portland office), and wk radio played music exclusively by employees the night of the event. house spirits' matt and his wife were there pouring great drinks and i couldn't be happier with the whole thing. <3